


"What have you done?" - (One-Shot)

by tharkflark1



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: "What if this happens" endings, F/M, I'm disregarding what happened at the end of season 2, Natalie isn't here for some reason, One Shot, Post reveal for everyone I guess, Post-Reveal Adrien Agreste/Marinette Dupain-Cheng, because this was being written before that, one of those
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-24
Updated: 2018-11-24
Packaged: 2019-08-28 16:37:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16727016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tharkflark1/pseuds/tharkflark1
Summary: She squints around the room. Though dim and her eyes aren’t used the light, Emilie can still make out a dull cathedral-like room bordered with overgrown bushel arrangements. There are multiple lamps lining the walls, but the main source of light comes from the large circular window above her head. The air is somewhat stale and stuffy, but the area around her is dustless.How long has she been here?





	"What have you done?" - (One-Shot)

Her eyes shoot open at the piercing scream, breath filling her lungs like a suffocating man.

She chokes, the air ripping her bone-dry throat to pieces. Her muscles straining from bending over at an awkward angle to cough into weak-willed limbs. She’s tired. Physically sore. Her whole body struggles to move even the slightest as she slowly comes to the waking world. There’s strange urge to just go back to sleep, but the pain from her lungs and muscles keep her grounded, no matter how uncomfortable the space she’s in. Wait. Where was she? At that Emilie finally looks around.

She squints around the room. Though dim and her eyes aren’t used the light, Emilie can still make out a dull cathedral-like room bordered with overgrown bushel arrangements. There are multiple lamps lining the walls, but the main source of light comes from the large circular window above her head. The air is somewhat stale and stuffy, but the area around her is dustless.

How long has she been here?

Swallowing roughly, her head bumps cool glass. Emilie places both her hands on the convex clear lid that surrounds her. She’s laying on bright white cushions, however they’re stiff and not made for sleeping. (Her breath catches slightly that the “bed” she’s lying in is more a _coffin_ if anything.) With a shiver and rough push, the top opens like a handmade time capsule, the hinges harshly squeaking from lack of use. A bouquet falls to the ground; it had been sitting on the edge near her feet.

She peers over the edge of her “bed” to look at it. It’s freshly bought. Roses and Carnations make up most of the arrangement, but the fact that the flowers were crisp and soft meant someone had been here recently.

Emilie shakes her head to clear her thoughts. She pushes herself out of the box, arms faintly trembling as she braces and shoves her way out…

... only to immediately collapse to the ground.

She gasps slightly at the sudden sensation of gravity shoving her to her hands and knees, the sound echoing around the room. Her legs had simply just, _given out_ , knocking the hard-earned air from her tired lungs. Her legs weren’t holding her up. Like they couldn’t hold her weight anymore.

_How long has she been here?_

Emilie blindly grasps one of the railings nearby, pulling herself up and taking deep breaths to ease the restriction in her lungs. The few steps she takes to straighten herself are painful but worth it, as she feels a little stronger with each one. There’s still some trembling in her limbs, but they seemed to have lessen somewhat.

The large circular butterfly shape right above her “bed” catches her eye next. It’s not a window -  just a design, framing the box like some kind of shrine (or grave, her anxiousness helpfully provides).

Shaking her head again, Emilie tries to collect her bearings. How did she get here? She didn’t recognize this place at all. Okay. Calm down. What was she doing before? What was the last thing she remembered?

Emilie holds a hand to her temple, trying to rid the light pounding in her head. The last thing she remembered. The last thing...oh! She was in Tibet!

She was on vacation to see the infamous “Rooftop of the World”, something that was definitely on her bucket list of sights to see. She remembered the chilly Himalayas, the beautiful Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon, and the sight that was Qinghai Lake. Oh, how wonderful she remembers feeling, how free! It was a real shame that Gabriel didn’t appreciate the scenery very much. He had particularly interested in that book they had picked up...

Speaking of her husband, where was he? He was definitely with her last time she remembered. Emilie had practically begged him to take her to Tibet, him not being a very outdoorsy person. She had thought the experience would be good for him; he’s always just sitting in his office doing work, and she wanted him to not only stretch his legs but also his horizons. “Think of all the designs you could come up with on this trip!” had been the thing to get him to agree to it.

Legs still weak, but supporting her more easily now, Emilie finds herself shuffling along the long railing going away from the “bed”.  Even then, returning to her thoughts, she can’t help but wonder: How did she get out of Tibet? She doesn’t remember leaving; did she ever leave? _How long has she been here?!_

Calm down. Breathe.

Emile stops to do so, allowing her legs to get used to holding her up without the rail. She just needed to find a way out, figure out where she was, and locate Gabriel and -

A distraught wail echos from outside the walls. Emilie feels all her parental instincts seize her.

_Adrien!_

Her legs are moving on her own, the pain in her limbs are all but nothing as she’s sprinting along the narrow pathway. She’s not sure where she’s going but she’s not worrying about that right now. All that Emilie is worried about is her son and _if he’s okay_.

That sound was him, her son; and he sounded so _sad_. Oh god, she prayed he was okay. The last time Emilie saw Adrien was as she was leaving for Tibet. He had hugged her tight, asking her to promise she’d be safe and come back. He had sounded sad then, too. But this sound was different…

Her lungs were burning even worse now, but the adrenaline in her system kept her going. She needed to find him, to see if he was okay!

Emilie fumbles for a door handle she can barely recognize that’s there, rushes up a staircase she can barely follow, and finally falls into a heavy door that barely caves under her weight. She can hear the voices more clearly now; both of whom she’s recognizes but neither she remembers.

She lightly opens the door -

“- come now, Adrien! Be reasonable! She’s the reason - ”

“Y-You stay back! Don’t- _Don’t come any closer or I’ll_ \- “

Adrien is the first to realize she’s there and everything goes quiet. He looks older than she remembers: more mature, more built.

‘ _He looks so handsome,’_ is the first thought Emilie silently mutters. ‘ _Truly, he’s taken after his father..._ ’

His emerald eyes catch her own, shifting from hardened to… she’s not sure she can read the emotion on her son’s face. He looks surprised? Hopeful? Angry? There are tear tracks on his face, she can see now; he stiffens when she takes a step forward and tightens his hold on…

Oh... _oh god_ -

Gabriel steps into her line of vision, hugging her tight, temporarily cutting her thought process off. Emilie pauses: Gabriel was never really the “huggy” type. Not that he didn’t like physical touch (Lord knows how much Adrien was a hugger when he was small) but he just didn’t really initiate the touches. And normally she would hug him back, holding him there for as long as possible as he would eventually drift away. But this time, she wanted answers. Now.

Emilie warmly, yet sternly, grips her husband’s upper arms, pushing him away so she can look at him but not letting go. He’s also aged; but it’s different. Gabriel looks worn, not matured like her son. His hair is a little grayer and unkempt. The more-obvious-than-she’s-ever-seen-them lines on his face pull his face into an almost permanent frown. His eyes are hopeful and happy, yet hard. Her mind is telling her this is her husband, but for some reason all her instincts are telling her to run.

She shakes off the feeling, catching his gaze. “Honey, where am I? What is going on?”

His gaze is lost as it shifts to the floor, his mouth pulled in a straight line. He’s not answering her question and with the fact that their child is holding _another child in his arms_ , she’s getting frustrated and worried. “Gabriel Agreste, you will tell what is going on right now before I - “

“This is just another one of your tricks, isn’t it? _Isn’t it?!_ ”

Emilie’s frown completely disappears at the growl in her son’s voice. Adrien brings up his head to look straight at Gabriel. There’s so much raw emotion in his eyes as he cradles the  _child in his arms_ closer.

Adrien practically hisses, “She’s just some trick you’re using to get me to _join you_ ! _First_ her _and now mom?! How DARE you disgrace them like that!? How d-_ dare…” His voice cracks, eyes watery with unshed tears as he looks down at the person in his lap who had still not moved.

Emilie pulls away from her husband (but not without a confused, fearful glance at his emotionless state) and slowly makes her way toward her son on the floor. Kneeling before him, she reaches for him: “ _Adrien_ . Please, it’s _me._ ”

Adrien flinches and pulls the girl closer, staring at Emilie, trembling with the same emotion from earlier she still can’t place. “Y-you _can't_ be _real_ ,” He distraughtly whispers. “Because...Because you’re….”

She gently places a hand onto her son’s. “I’m right here, Adrien.”

Those simple words causes the dams to break and come spilling out all at once. Adrien hiccups as she places another hand on his cheek. He leans into it and looks at her with sad, hopeful eyes, but makes no move to remove his grip on the girl.

She wipes his tears away with a thumb. “Adrien, will you tell me what’s going on? What is this place? And who…?” Emilie looks down at the young (Asian, now that she’s closer) girl, brushing her fingertips across her pale speckled cheeks. They’re cold.

The unspoken question seems to make his crying worse now. He sniffles, emotions clogging up his words: “D-dad, he… tried to bring you back. He t-took them… and- and wanted to get you back so he u-used the wish-” He barrels over in another fit of crying. Emilie pulls him close, not really understanding his words but hoping what he was implying wasn’t the truth.

“It tried to use _me_ ,” Adrien mumbles into her shirt.”But she...but she….” Adrien pulls back, rocking and hugging the young girl's limp form as though it might somehow wake her.

“ _It should’ve been me,_ _Marinette_ ," His voice shatters, now only hoarse whispers. He buries his face into the girl’s dark hair. " _It should have been me..._ ”

Emilie squeezed her eyes shut as she hugged her son for all his worth. _She had died, and somehow, the girl had been_ sacrificed _to bring her back._ As farfetched as it sounded, she found herself trembling at the implications of her son's words. That the one who had killed this young girl ( _who her son clearly cared for_ ) was...was.... 

Emile turned her head to look at her husband, whose emotionless gaze was trained on the earrings and ring in his hand.

“Gabriel...what have you done?”

Adrien just sobbed louder as Emilie hugged him tighter, empathetic tears springing forth from her eyes.

“ _What have you done?_ ”

 

**Author's Note:**

> Merry Christmas, guys!! :D
> 
> The season 3 trailer looks baller and I'm ready for it. (not really)
> 
> This will be and stay a one-shot cuz I can't think of a smooth storyline for this.
> 
> And go check out my tumblr! (It's the same name as my ao3 account)
> 
> Ciao!


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